Friday, November 2, 2007

Through uncommonly portrayed candor Sheritha Bowman invites you into her world. It is a world that many strive for, but may be ill-equipped to handle.

Openly she expresses challenges faced due to her skin color, extended living and the loss of her father to the legal system during her developing years.

It will be the apparitions of her past that threaten her future, as familial heartaches, the state of unknowing and hormones manifest in less that positive ways. Through her relationship with Christ, weights of her past will be lifted; but replaced with others.

Feeling that she is called to the pastoral office Ms. Bowman is encouraged by her husband and clergy mentor. Immersing herself into what she believes is her calling, our author will soon come to know that her path will not be as easy as she thought.

Along the road to finding true purpose we are privy to her public and private challenges. Through it all you will see a strong prayer life mingled with ardent praise and worship assisitng her in her times of need and thankfulness.

It will be through revelations of her journey that readers will come to understand that delay is not denial, nor are our mistakes to be hidden from the world. Those considering entering ministry in any form would be well advised to partake of the honest and heart-felt advice given by this most anointed woman of God.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Bonnie St. John’s book, How Strong Women Pray epitomizes the focus of the aforementioned scripture. With skill, care and candor Ms. St. John cleverly entwines her life experiences with that of others to show the importance and results of prayer in their lives.

Through the uniquely written treatise readers are offered a view into the private lives of twenty-seven women. Each is viewed as strong in their own right. All are connected by duo threads of commonality; their dependence upon prayer and faith to acknowledge that they are not in control of their destinies. Delightfully absent from this work is the impression of a regime of rigidity and uniformity to be entered into. Instead, you will see the simplicity and fervor in which each approaches prayer and are divinely ministered to.

Those who feel that the presence of high profile names, the mention of positions Ms. St. John has held and her academic and Olympic accomplishments are self-serving will not absorb the full thrust of the work. They will miss the fact that in spite of her high visibility and accomplishments, she has made a choice. Through the choice to be vulnerable, Ms. St. John speaks to the plight of many with disabilities. Without reserve she is reaching out to those who are merely surviving rather than seeking to overcome the trauma of sexual childhood abuse or other obstacles that is preventing them from reaching full potential.